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7 companies with amazingly unique wellness programs

Corporate wellness doesn't have to solely consist of health scans, gym memberships and reimbursements. There are more creative ways of cultivating a healthy office environment.

The goal is create a culture where employees choose to live a healthier lifestyle, rather than being forced to do so. Wellness works best when the experience is a shared one either through communal goals or — taking the opposite approach — pitting employees against each other to create healthy competition. Different people are motivated by different things.

Fitbit not only has a great internal corporate wellness program but also helps other companies harness the power of their fitness trackers to create customized, engaging programs. Thirty of the Fortune 500 companies participate in Fitbit Wellness, ultimately saving money in terms of medical costs and reduced sick days.

"We work with our clients to build out a solution that speaks to their needs," Amy McDonough, VP and GM for Fitbit Wellness says. "We help with distribution of traffic, we support activation, participation, bringing consumer excitement into the corporate marketplace and program management."

This division of Fitbit has been around for about six years — the company just celebrated its eighth anniversary — and is a collaboration between a variety of departments ranging from business development and B2B marketing to management and customer support.

"It's about making the program a part of office culture in general — changing that water cooler conversation," says McDonough.

Generally, companies will use the trackers as a motivator as part of a rewards program or company-wide competition. Then, they can use a Fitbit dashboard with aggregated data to track steps, calories burned, active minutes, distance, hours of sleep etc.

BP, for example, has run a one million step challenge where employees who hit the mark over the course of a year are eligible for a more deductible health plan. In one year, 23,000 employees took over 23 billion steps. Another company in the program celebrated the World Cup by challenging teams to walk a distance comparable to that of the company’s HQ to Rio de Janeiro — a total of 5,547 miles, or 4.4 miles (8,804 steps) per member per day.

According to Fitbit, you don’t need a big budget to create exciting incentives. Small rewards go a long way. If you work in a formal office setting, offer a casual dress day for winners. Or change up the reward by making a donation to the charity of the winner’s choice.

"What makes it impactful is tying it back to the culture of the organization," McDonough says.

Internally, Fitbit practices what it preaches. For example, the company plans "Workout Wednesdays," a day devoted to fitness where employees can participate in various workouts throughout the day. And, of course, utilizes its product by running quarterly step challenges.

Pictured is Windie Lee, one of the $10,000 prize winners of the Pick Up Your Pace program

A perfect example of a successful Fitbit-enrolled company: Houston Methodist.

A leading Texas medical center with seven locations around Houston, Houston Methodist knows how to keep its patients and employees healthy. Methodist joined the Fitbit Wellness community in 2014, and since then has supplied over 11,000 devices to 4,000 employees syncing their data each month. According to Janay Andrade, director of employee benefits, staff were excited from the beginning.

Obviously, the hospital system has health at its core, with a long history as a wellness provider. In addition to reduced prices for Fitbits, employees are offered biometric screenings, with over 80% of the staff opting in. Staff are also categorized into different tracks like pregnant, nicotine-positive, high BMI or healthy (two-thirds of the workforce classify as healthy), to name a few, so that each wellness program can be personally tailored. This is where Fitbits can come into good use, as employees who complete their track successfully earn a premium difference of $520 on an annual basis.

Fitbit Wellness has also allowed Methodist to develop creative competitions and events revolving around steps. One of its first implementations was a CEO challenge, where employees were tasked with "over stepping" their superiors.

"It got the CEOs out there and visible, walking with their staff," Andrade says.

On April 1st, National Walking Day, any employee who walked 10,000 steps was given credit for their annual program, and in February the hospitals organized a Battle of the Sexes competition. The hospital also runs a "Pick Up Your Pace" program, where employees with a certain amount of credits can enter a drawing for $10,000, and this year four employees won the prize because they had purchased Fitbits.

The wellness program not only improves employee health but also supports office camaraderie. "When you own a Fitbit, you can have Fitbit friends," explains Andrade. "You can message the CEO through the portal. There's a different dynamic. It has a socialness to it."

Since implementing this program, Houston Methodist's "Best Companies to Work For" Fortune ranking has gone up. "We take that very seriously. We're proud of the work we've done."

It's commonly known that working at Google is rad. In Mountain View, the campus has a slide in case employees are tired of taking the stairs; the East Coast office houses ping-pong tables, nap pods and LEGO stations. Employees can shower, get their laundry done, get massages and even swim at work.

Google has also created a People & Innovation Lab (PiLab) to conduct research and development within its People Operations (its version of HR). The company is extremely invested in finding unique ways to improve the health of its employees.

Employees can also enhance their knowledge of various subjects through a Googlers-to-Googlers education program. The classes span from subjects like management and public speaking to kickboxing and parenting — and as the name suggests, all classes are taught by Google employees to Google employees. One engineer Chade-Meng Tan famously started a class on mindfulness that soon became his job title — Jolly Good Fellow — and a book called Search Inside Yourself.

Working at Motley Fool is more fun than you might expect, and much of that has to do with its wellness program. From free spinning classes and bootcamps to in-house subsidized massages, the health and fitness perks are off the charts.

"One of our core values is collaboration, and that’s one of the highly excitable things that I do," says Chief Wellness Fool Sam Whiteside. "I'm able to pull different 'Fools' from different departments that may have had only one conversation before, but come together and collaborate in a fitness class."

Whiteside also writes a monthly health newsletter, The Flex, highlighting a Wellness Fool nominated by his or her peers. Each month, she creates a different challenge or theme to excite staffers. "April was called 'Active April.' We wanted to challenge them to make one meeting per day an active one. There were pushups during meetings and people walking around the office. It's about trying to make every month different from the month prior. It keeps engagement up because people get tired of doing the same things," says Whiteside.

If this all wasn't great enough, employees also get free personal training sessions and wellness consultations with Whiteside. "We discuss goals, and that gets the conversation going. When they know that I care, that's where the difference is made. I love personal training, but being a force that people can count on is huge for wellness."

And for employees who want to participate in a race of any kind, Fool offers 50% reimbursements. "It helps pull people in that have never done a 5k or never thought they could. I'll help them pick out a race, train with them and then 6 months later I'll find out they've run four or five. It can change someone's perspective and help them find a love for something they didn't know they had."

Wellness engagement at Motley Fool is around 86%, but Whiteside's goal is to blow it out of the water even more and raise it to 100%.

Health is in Earth Friendly Products' DNA. The company is a champion in the green, sustainable world, and thus strives to create an office community that mimics that. In fact, each facility has an organic garden from which employees can snag fruits and vegetables.

Another unique aspect of its wellness program is something called RE-Parties where staff members can swap clothes and household items. Additionally, if employees want to trade in a car for a more environmentally-friendly one, the company will help pay for that. Better yet, everyone who chooses to move closer to the office to reduce their carbon footprint by reducing their commute receives $1,000.

Online retailer Zappos has often been admired for its wellness program, and, like most companies, it offers perks like gym memberships, free fitness classes, nap rooms and marathon reimbursements. But to wellness coordinator Kelly Maher, wellness consists of more than just the physical aspect and shouldn't be forced upon employees.

"We see so much that people don't take care of their bodies. Our programs get people to realize that stereotypical exercise isn't the only way to be well and be happy," he says. "It's about getting people to want to do things voluntarily, not forcing them. Success programs are the ones that get team members energized versus forcing it on them."

One of the newer Zappos initiatives is called Wellness Adventures, where Maher will take a small group of employees from different departments offsite to do something fun away from their desks, like an hour-long golf lesson, laser tag or trampolining. To kick off March Madness, the company organized a three-on-three basketball game in the Zappos outdoor plaza, getting people from all departments to watch. Another unique program that Maher runs is Recess Tuesdays — yes, that's just what it sounds like. Every Tuesday he takes out playground toys, puts them on the plaza and sees what happens. Organically, people will come outside, shoot some hoops, play tetherball, volleyball and monkey around.

"Coming up with an idea that is so simple like Recess Tuesdays and seeing how employees utilize it" is one of Maher's favorite things about his job.

Voted the healthiest workplace in the United States in 2014 by Healthiest Employers LLC, this Indiana-based company prides itself on giving its employees the tools they need to live a healthier lifestyle.

In 2008, Draper, Inc. opened a Wellness Park at the edge of its property that included a one-fifth mile track, workout stations, table tennis and volleyball courts. Linda Brinson, the wellness coordinator, creates a monthly newsletter featuring "wellness superheroes" who are named by their peers for modeling healthy behaviors in the workplace.

The company has also participated in a 10-week weight loss challenge, "Dump Your Plump," where teams compete to win weekly gift cards and, at the end of the competition, a cash prize. Additionally, Draper holds an annual health fair, hosts Weight Watchers classes, walking competitions and Zumba sessions.

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